Monday, October 5, 2015

'Gallowglass' Speaks! - An ASC Perspective

Thomas and Deb do a selfie!

Ok, friends...we know that all we've been doing lately is posting perspective pieces about AllSoulsCon (plus a cool Q&A - in case you missed it!), and we will be back to our regular 'programming' very soon! This was not what we originally planned! We figured we'd maybe get a paragraph or two from each person - just enough for us to collage together and fit into a couple of features. Instead, we received these wonderful, detailed descriptions of fan experiences about the trilogy and/or the event! This is why we have been posting all of these. Each one deserved their own post to showcase the varied paths to the All Souls Trilogy (AST) and AllSoulsCon (ASC).

Now for something completely different! We knew how people who are huge fans of AST saw ASC, but we wondered what an outsider's take would be. We also were curious as to what a male POV of the series and event would look like. Perfect! We knew someone who fit both of those descriptions! On top of that, he was charged with portraying one of the most beloved characters of the trilogy: Gallowglass. We asked Thomas Gunter to help us out by describing his own ASC experience! Here's what he told us:
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By Thomas Gunter

So it all started when Janet Cadsawan asked if I wanted to be a part of AllSoulsCon. I said “Sure, why not? Let's do this!” At the time, I had no idea what an AllSoulsCon or who this ‘Gallowglass’ was.

Laura Ventura contacted me shortly afterwards, and assured me that the fans would be ecstatic to know that ‘Gallowglass’ will be attending. “Ecstatic,” I said to myself. Great! No stress or pressure there! It was time to get started with my research of this series and character.

I found out that AllSoulsCon was about a series of books that featured witches, daemons and vampires and written by Deborah Harkness. At that moment, I knew for sure that I was going to enjoy this! So between studying for various acting roles, I started reading as much and as fast as I could. I remember at one point thinking to myself, “Enough about Matthew, what about me (Gallowglass)?!”

I arrived at the convention a day early so I wouldn't have to wake up early in the morning and drive anywhere (which I am so thankful for). I decided to walk around and find out where everything was located for the mornings events.

They gave me my own table!

Ok, no pressure now! This is when I realized that I might be in over my head. Fans in general are really on point when it comes to knowing everything about all of the characters inside and out. On top of that, with Deborah Harkness’ reputation of being very compassionate, and just an overall good person, I knew that the people who showed up were going to be awesome! I decided I was just going to be myself, and see what happens.

Thomas observes as Laura participates in panel discussion.

Everyone was great! The AllSoulsCon was a success. The question and answer sessions were very informative! What I really enjoyed about them was how the fans interacted with each other and with the panels. Everyone was eager for more and all had their own ideas of why things were the way they were in the story.

Deborah took center stage and it was amazing to see how everyone changed just a little. Something just happened, and people just took on this look of innocence while watching her on stage and listening to her every word. We could have spent hours talking and asking questions. It was such a beautiful sight to see.

During the autograph session, I was in love with how the guests would light up once they were finally able to meet Deborah Harkness. She touches so many of these people's lives in so many ways. That’s something that I look up to, and hopefully one day I will be able to achieve that in my own career.

Deb breaks her own rule and signs someone's body! We don't blame her!

The fans were really great to me too! Even the ones that were not huge Gallowglass fans. I took so many pictures with so many beautiful people, I could not have asked for a better event to be a part of.

Yes, when it's all said and done I would do it all over again. And yes, Gallowglass is my favorite character!

Thank you to everyone that made this great event happen, and thank you to everyone that came out and made it the success that it was!

Cheers,
Thomas Guntera.k.a. Gallowglass

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Thank you, Thomas! We are holding you to the "I would do it all again"... let it be said, let it be done!

To our audience: Thomas is the kindest, coolest, friendliest, most down-to-earth person anyone could ever meet. Anyone who knows us, knows we don't throw words like that around lightly! It was our pleasure to get to know him. He embodied Gallowglass' spirit quite well! We suppose he's okay to look at too ... ;)* Read more about his career on his IMdb page: Thomas Gunter* Photos by the lovely Lilly Derway.